Trump WH Has Reportedly Discussed Meddling In CNN Merger In Order To Punish Them

We’ve all seen Donald Trump’s rants on Twitter: Fake news-this, bad journalism-that, blah, blah, blah. We all know he’s just pissy because they’re reporting things about him accurately, not that he makes it hard with his Twitter usage. Over the weekend he tweeted:

He also tweeted a video of himself “beating up” CNN, because he is the president and that’s a presidential thing to do and stuff. So, because CNN has managed to piss Trump off with their reporting, he may decide to meddle in their parent company, Time Warner’s merger with AT&T. According to a report in the New York Times:

White House advisers have discussed a potential point of leverage over their adversary, a senior administration official said: a pending merger between CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, and AT&T.

All of Trump’s rage stems from the fact that the network doesn’t coddle him like Fox News does. Sure they have gotten a couple of things wrong (Last week three veteran journalists resigned after not properly vetting a story) but find a news agency that hasn’t at one time or another. It’s all of the stuff that they’ve gotten right that really makes Trump angry and that’s why he has made CNN his number one target. Unfortunately for him, CNN’s president, Jeffrey A. Zucker doesn’t seem to be worried. Though it should be noted he has a plaque that reads “Punch Today in the Face” above his desk because he is a boxer, so it makes sense:

My job is to remind everyone that they need to stay focused doing their job. He’s trying to bully us, and we’re not going to let him intimidate us. You can’t lose your confidence and let that change the way you conduct yourselves.

The danger is that there is potential for the merger between Time Warner and AT&T to fall through if the Justice Department decides not to approve it. Trump’s allies are arguing that CNN’s recent conduct (the truth telling) is unbecoming, giving them leverage in the merger. Analysts say there isn’t much those idiots can do to stop it, but Trump is unpredictable. Meanwhile, we all have to wait and see what happens in the coming months.